twenty one
by lunatic fringe
Summary: Seifer takes Rinoa out for drinks on her birthday.


**Title:** Twenty-One  
**Fandom:** Final Fantasy VIII  
**Characters/Pairing:** Seifer Almasy, Rinoa Heartilly; not a pairing unless you really want it to be.  
**Genre:** General, a little bit humor.  
**Rating:** PG-13 for language  
**Warning:** ...Alcohol? XD  
**Summary:** Seifer takes Rinoa out for drinks.  
**Other:** Cliché storyline and ending? I think yes. But whatever. 8) Well, anyway, I hadn't written these two in quite awhile, so I figured I'd give it a go. It's definitely not my best writing (do I even have anything that would qualify as best? XD), but at least it's something. :D By the way, I have no experience with alcohol or being drunk, so ... LOL SUP WINGING IT? I could care less if it's accurate. (premiered 07/11/07 at 607am.)

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Four years after the Sorceress War, things were pretty good. For the most part, the world was at peace again (there were always minor problems here and there, of course). There were no megalomaniac sorceresses to deal with, and although their services were mostly unnecessary, new SeeDs were being trained by Garden. _Just in case_, the Gardens all said. _Just in case._

And Seifer, still fully enjoying his pardon from Galbadia even after all these years, was at the door of Rinoa's apartment, a birthday card behind his back, shifting it to his left hand so he could knock on her door with his right. _She better damn well be here_, he thought to himself. It was likely she would be, since these days she was unattached (things simply hadn't worked out with Squall almost right after they began, and there hadn't been anyone serious since) and the rest of her friends were too busy doing Garden things to come visit her. She'd moved out of Garden — out of Balamb in general — and into the coastal town of Dollet. Something about it being peaceful and comfortable, she'd told him before she packed her things and headed for the train station.

Much to his relief, she was home, and when she opened the door he grinned at her. "Hey, you."

"Hey yourself," she replied, smiling back. "What are you doing here?"

"Standing outside your apartment. What's it look like?" Before she could respond to that, he presented her with the card. She opened it and read it, and he was amused by her wide-eyed look of surprise, which was followed by a casual lean against the door frame and an eyebrow being raised. Inside was a gift card from the best bar in Dollet, offering free drinks for the recipient's birthday.

"What's this? Do you plan on getting me tanked, then having your way with me?"

It was good to see she was still able to adjust her sense of humor to his style. "Maybe if everything goes well, yeah." He laughed, then shook his head. "Nah. Look, I missed your birthday, right? Twenty-one's the big one. You're legal now, 'Noa. So I figured I'd come by, take you out to a bar, and get you to celebrate year twenty-one the right way." Pausing, he leaned against the door frame, his hand inches above hers. "It was either this or a diamond necklace."

"I would've preferred the necklace."

"Well, I didn't have that much money."

Rinoa shook her head and laughed. "Good to see you're still a wise-ass." She took the gift card out, then placed the card (the birthday card, that is) on the small table next to the door. "Sure, let's go. I gotta get my jacket, though. It's cold out there for April."

Seifer nodded in agreement and waited for her to get ready. Of course, getting her jacket turned into checking to make sure everything was turned off, candles were blown out, and Angelo had water. About seven minutes later, she was finally locking up the door. "You couldn't've invited me in out of the hall while you did all that, could you?" Seifer said, heading off down the hall.

"Oh. Must've slipped my mind."

Seifer chuckled, ever amused by her tendency to be just as much of a smart-ass as he was.

Neither of them had a car, but it wasn't like the bar was that much of a walk from her place. It only took them about ten minutes, and they used that time to give the condensed version of what had been happening in their lives for the past month. Despite the fact that they were good friends these days, they hadn't really found the time to keep in contact with each other. Seifer never had a permanent address and Hyne forbid he buy a mobile phone.

Which, by the way ...

"You know what?" Rinoa said, sliding past Seifer as he held the door open for her.

"No, but I bet you're gonna tell me."

"I am." She unbuttoned her coat, a little slowly, just to keep him in suspense. It worked, too, because out of the corner of her eye she saw him cross his arms and tilt his head at her. This made her smile, and then she decided to get on with it. "Next paycheck, I'm gonna buy you a phone."

Seifer scoffed, not even looking at her as he looked for two open spots at the bar. "Yeah? You gonna pay the bill for me, too?"

"I plan on it."

Her response caused him to snap his head in her direction. He hadn't been serious about that. "No, you're not."

"Watch me." And that's where she left it, quickly walking over to a couple of barstools she noticed Seifer was looking at. She climbed up onto one (a little tough for a petite girl like her) and spun around on it halfway, waiting for Seifer to sit on the one next to her. When he did, she placed her purse in her lap and folded her arms on the counter. "So, Almasy, what do you recommend?"

Seifer looked at her. Honestly, he had no idea if she was serious or just asking him for kicks. He answered seriously, regardless. "Whiskey shots, but those'll probably knock _you_ out after about two."

Alright, Rinoa was a little surprised. Did this guy forget who he was talking to? "I don't know ... I think that sounds kind of like a challenge," she said, the last three words coming out sing-song.

"It's not a challenge. It's more like a fact. You're not exactly the same size as me, you know, and—"

"Quiet, you," she interrupted, giving him an almost painfully sweet smile. While she raised her hand to get the bartender's attention, she took the gift card out of her purse. "A bottle of whiskey and some shot glasses, please," she requested when he came over to her. The bartender gave her a questioning look, then shifted that same look to Seifer. All Seifer could do was shake his head and give a small shrug. With that, the bartender turned and walked to a shelf to get them a bottle, then brought it to them. Although Rinoa had made the order, Seifer was the one who thanked him.

"Squall would probably have a fit if he knew you were doing this," Seifer said as he poured them each a shot.

"Yeah, well, he'd eventually get over it." Rinoa watched as her small glass was filled. "Maybe."

Seifer couldn't help but laugh. It was true. "Yeah." He picked up his glass and waited for her to do the same. When she did, he looked at her and smirked. "You sure you're ready for this?"

She responded with a nod, and they were off. Seifer took his whiskey down easily, but Rinoa made a face and seemingly forced hers down. This made Seifer laugh.

"Told you you couldn't handle it."

"No, you said I'd be completely drunk right away. You didn't mention it tastes gross."

He laughed again. "Course not. Figured I'd leave that for you to find out yourself."

"Ever the gentleman, hm?" She made a face again, then shook her entire body. "Ugh. No more of that. I think I'll go with cocktails instead." That said, she slid the bottle in front of Seifer.

"You really _are_ a damn princess," he said with a snicker. "But hey, your late birthday celebration, your choice."

So fruity cocktail after fruity cocktail was delivered to Rinoa the rest of the time they were there.

—

At least now, Seifer knew what Rinoa's drink of choice was. It was made clear to him all five times she ended up ordering it. Some lemon and cherry flavored concoction called Chocobo Feather. He thought that was a stupid name (but then, most cocktails did have stupid names), and the drink itself sounded gross to him... but hey, whatever.

To summarize even further, Rinoa was drunk. She didn't know her limit and to be honest, Seifer didn't even have a guess what it could be either. The only reason he decided it was time for her to stop was when she started mouthing off to a girl on the way out of the restroom. So, after surrendering her card to the bartender and thanking him, he picked up Rinoa's coat and walked over to her, then guided her by the shoulders to the door. And since she was lacking coordination, he had to put her coat on her. It was an amusing scene, really, since she couldn't seem to stay still. But he succeeded, and he kept her close to his side to support her as he walked her back to her apartment.

Once they were there, he placed her on her sofa and sat down in a nearby chair. At first, he thought about leaving and just writing her a note, but then he figured this must be her first time being drunk, so it was best he stayed. It was alright though. He had no problem staying up all night. Besides, she had a TV and plenty of channels for him to watch, which was something he lacked.

So that's what he did for the entire night, and Rinoa slept very soundly. Almost fell off the sofa once, but luckily Seifer was able to catch her and roll her back onto it before she hit the floor. After that, however, she was fine. Very log-like.

Oh, right. There was one more thing Seifer failed to mention to her.

She was going to have a monster hangover in the morning.

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**A/N:** Still moving stuff here from the writing journal. 


End file.
